A series of very useful new features are coming soon to WhatsApp , which will transform many aspects of the instant messaging application. They include Communities to manage groups in a more advanced way, and other new features that will support them.
Along with the Communities come new reactions to messages using emojis, voice calls of up to 32 users , uploading of documents of up to 2 GB and the possibility for administrators to delete messages for everyone in groups.
The objective is to bring WhatsApp a little closer to tools such as Microsoft Teams, which allows teams in companies to be in contact, but on a smaller scale, for groups of people who know each other in educational institutions, sports, associations and small businesses.
WhatsApp Communities
WhatsApp Communities will serve to manage groups of people with common links in a more orderly and complete way . For example, a group of school parents, the neighbors of a building or a small company.
The Communities may be made up of one or several groups , so that the messages are better managed, and at first they will admit several thousand members , for now the exact number has not been specified.
There will be an administrator in charge , who can even delete the content that he considers inappropriate, such as hoaxes or viral chains.
In addition, forwarding will be limited and it will prevent sending messages to all members of the Communities except if done by the administrator. Mobile numbers will not be visible to other members to maintain privacy.
They will only be able to invite us to the Communities directly , there will not be a search engine, although it is possible to restrict who can put us in one. If we leave one of these groups, the rest of the members will not see any notice in the chat.
The most important of the WhatsApp news will be the last to arrive, for now it does not have a specific date. In fact, the other four that have been presented will serve to support the Communities.
Reactions to messages
The reactions will allow us to indicate what we think of a message without having to send a new one. They will be some emojis that represent feelings , they will be sent by pressing and holding on the message, and they will not generate notification to the other members.
Although these new features are focused on Communities, they will be available in all WhatsApp chats , so we can send reactions in any conversation.
Files up to 2 GB in WhatsApp
Communities are going to mean more document and media sharing on WhatsApp, and the company doesn’t want as much reliance on third-party cloud storage services for this.
Therefore, it will be possible to send files and documents of up to 2 GB in WhatsApp, which will facilitate the work, but also the risk that more irrelevant viral videos will begin to circulate that take up space.
Calls up to 32 users
Voice calls now go up to 32 people at a time , which is suitable for small organizations and businesses targeted by WhatsApp Communities.
In addition, the call interface will be redesigned to accommodate this increased number of participants. Of course, WhatsApp video calls remain unchanged, this novelty does not affect them.
Admins will delete messages
The ability to delete messages for everyone (even on other users’ phones) is now extended to group admins. This will be useful to delete inappropriate messages, whether they are hoaxes, viral chains or that for any reason should not be in the chat.
We only know that WhatsApp will gradually enable the new features over the next few weeks , and that the Communities will be the last one to arrive.
Of course, the news associated with the WhatsApp Communities are useful , as they will make the application more versatile. The typical groups of school or colleagues at work can now be organized with minimal guarantees of privacy and control.
